Microsoft has had a rough week with the closures of popular game studios, and late yesterday, a new rumour surfaced about putting Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass.
This week, Microsoft decided to close studios responsible for games on their platform, the headlining studios that were sadly closed are the recent rhythm game hit Hi-Fi Rush‘s Tango Gameworks and Redfall‘s Arkane Austin. A has hit the internet today regarding Xbox and its future, and it involves potentially adding Call of Duty titles to the Xbox Game Pass library. This rumour comes as part of The Verge‘s huge report on the fallout from the Microsoft studio closures amidst a post on X (formerly Twitter) from the head of Arkane Lyon, which shows how current studio heads feel about Microsoft’s decision.
What’s interesting is Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty attributed the closures to a “reprioritization of titles and resources,” which makes little sense considering the praise Hi-Fi Rush has received, and Xbox’s own Aaron Greenberg writing, “Hi-Fi Rush was a breakout hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations,” with “We couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release.”
The Verge’s Tom Warren writes, “Microsoft has also had internal debates about whether to put new releases of Call of Duty into Game Pass. I understand this is a debate that has been ongoing internally for quite some time, with concerns from some that the revenue that Call of Duty typically generates for Activision Blizzard will be undermined by Game Pass,” and this is reportedly correlated with the ‘levelling out’ that Xbox Game Pass membership has seen recently.
The report also mentioned the idea of Xbox Game Pass receiving a price hike, and Call of Duty would likely spark new interest in joining or remaining a member of the service. Still, no concrete reports have been made that see a Call of Duty release for Xbox Game Pass just yet, so fans should take all of the backroom speaking with a grain of salt until Microsoft, Xbox, or Activision makes an announcement.
